Bob,
In 1960 I had my own trio: me on Hammond organ and I played bass on the pedals, guitarist and drummer and we were a quartet when the drummer's girlfriend sang on Fri and Sat nights.
Long story short, after being a jazz guitarist I made my money as a bassplayer.
Ended up over here when "You are the sunshine of my life" went into the charts. Playing bass on the Mardi Gras out of Miami. Joe Cocker, Eric Burden(sp), Blood, Sweat and Tears, early Chicago and a lotta Beatles. My tastes were ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd, Doobies. There wasn't much 'cept the Beach Boys coming out of California and being our audiences were from East of the Miss. you can imagine what we covered. I got off the ship and went on the road with a five piece playing Ohio Players, Average White Band, Donna Summer and all that stuff from the "Disco" era.
I got off the road because of the "Business"....agents and managers and the Union demanding more and more and they doing nothing for it.
The Business was taking over the live music presentation side and good musicians really suffered when crap started to take over the good venues.
I was a mechanical engineer up until two years ago when I was retired. There is very little good music produced these days but there are some tremendous musicians out there.
For bassists, my choices are John Entwistle and Chris Squires, Jaco (Weather Report), Mark (Level 42)....mainly these guys are not afraid of being out front and taking the lead....that's the way I play...no fear.
Not how I ryde though...I and the Beastie are very precious but we do have fun.
Playin' at Biker Bars doesn't hurt either. I got back into playing again after Dearly Beloved passed and have a nice collection of good stuff...Yes I do have a Hammond organ...And a gorgeous Fender Precision 5-string bass, a Carvin long scale 6-string bass, 2 Strats, 1 Tele and 2 British Burns guitars.....and they all get played.
I play around three times a week now on the local Blues Jam "scene". We have some great players around here with all differing styles and you'd be surprised how a bassist can transform the most mundane 12-bar blues into a driving rocker.
